# Tongue Bite and metallic taste!



## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

I've been doing a lot of house remodling with my brother in law and that translates into lot's of pipe smoking. Well I started getting a bad case of tongue bite a week ago, but did I stop smoking? NO! I'm so stupid! So when I started noticing a metallic taste in my mouth and my tongue hurt like crap, I decided to take a few days off smoking. Well two days later my tongue isn't hurting as bad but I still notice a metal/bitter taste on my tongue. It doesn't effect my taste, all food tastes ok. But when I haven't had anything to eat or drink in awhile the metal taste come to life. I noticed that after smoking a few bowls one evening by the last one the metallic taste was really intense and I could taste it with each puff as though it was coming through the pipe. This all took place over a couple of weeks, with different pipes and different tobaccos though burleys seemed worse.
The tongue bite doesn't concern me I notice it starting to subside. But I'm worried about the metallic taste, have I done damage, or is this the sign of a serious condition? Maybe the two are unrelated? Has any one else ever had this happen?


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

Tongue bite is usually caused by the steam from burning tobacco burning your tongue, or possibly a chemical disagreement in your mouth. I would just take some time off of smoking until your tongue heals, drinking something acidic has helped me in the past. 

What blends are you smoking, some tobaccos have PG or other things added that can cause problems for some people.


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## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

GlassEye said:


> Tongue bite is usually caused by the steam from burning tobacco burning your tongue, or possibly a chemical disagreement in your mouth. I would just take some time off of smoking until your tongue heals, drinking something acidic has helped me in the past.
> 
> What blends are you smoking, some tobaccos have PG or other things added that can cause problems for some people.


PG? What's that? I've been smoking a lot of Cornell and Diel's "Billy Budd" lately but also I've been smoking my own blend of Perique and Black Cav, MacB Acadian Perique, and Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy flake . I've been smoking for 8 years now but it used to be like twice a week but the last month it's been 4 to 5 times a day most of that being in the evening. I've had tongue bite before but never this bad and never the metallic taste.


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Jeez, man. How long do you leave your hand on the stove before you realize it's burning? 

Seriously though, no offense, you should stop smoking all together for a few weeks if not a month. Give your mouth a chance to heal.


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

Last time I had that metallic taste was when I had a cavity.

You must be pulling way too hard way too much to be burning yourself that bad. Even when I was doing 5-6 bowls a day my tongue never hurt that bad unless I was smoking some kind of awful aromatic or anything with black Cavendish.

Stop smoking for a few days and swish a few times a day with salt water. Take your toothbrush and lightly brush your tongue all the way back. You will see that tar and crap on your tongue toward the back and it will turn your toothbrush yellow. You might gag a bit, but that built-up residue on your tongue could be causing your weird flavor too.

That fixed my bite issue and I have been fine keeping it maintained.


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## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

drastic_quench said:


> Jeez, man. How long do you leave your hand on the stove before you realize it's burning?
> 
> Seriously though, no offense, you should stop smoking all together for a few weeks if not a month. Give your mouth a chance to heal.


LOL! I know, I'm not the sharpest tool. Part of the problem too is I got a new meerschaum for Christmas, and I've been a slave to coloring it. I have smoked with tongue burn before and if I cut back it usually will go away. So you think it's just from smoking too much? It reminds me of when you eat a lot of those kettle cooked chips and they scatch up the roof of your mouth, the sores have that bitter, metal taste to them. That's what my tongue is like.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

I suspect that the metallic taste you are getting is from your own blood that is leaching through the raw meat of your burned tongue.


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## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

CWL said:


> I suspect that the metallic taste you are getting is from your own blood that is leaching through the raw meat of your burned tongue.


That's the funny thing my tongue doesn't look bad, maybe a little red. It's kind of hard to tell sometime since I have geographic tongue.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

radioisotope said:


> That's the funny thing my tongue doesn't look bad, maybe a little red. It's kind of hard to tell sometime since I have geographic tongue.


Forgot to mention I have felt this metallic taste myself many times caused by my over-puffing.


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## FiveStar (Jan 7, 2010)

Have a few days off the pipe. It will build character, and make the subsequent reunion pipe all the more enjoyable.

I try to take a day off of tobacco at least once a month to let my body rest. Sounds like you're long overdo. 

Maybe even treat yourself to lots of fruit and veggies. Anti-oxidant it up for 24 hours or so and see how your tongue feels.


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## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

A lot of good advice here guys, thanks. I just figured if I cut back on the numner of bowls it would subside but it looks like a vacation is in order. I've also heard that biotene was good to use for tongue bite. I've been using listerine and it only makes matters worse. Biotene is also for dry mouth which I think I have. Well, just have too take some time away from the pipe :-( my poor mouth needs the rest, probably wouldn't be a bad Idea to cut back on coffee too!


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## Kevin Keith (Jan 24, 2010)

It could be cancer. Not really. Well, maybe. Naw....
Also, when you have a "place" in your mouth or on your tongue, just don't look at it. It'll go away. I'm totally serious. You'll be a happier man. After eight years of baccy, you should know that! My God man, we're all playing Russian Roulette! (but pipes make us classy!) : )


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## radioisotope (Feb 9, 2011)

Kevin Keith said:


> It could be cancer. Not really. Well, maybe. Naw....
> Also, when you have a "place" in your mouth or on your tongue, just don't look at it. It'll go away. I'm totally serious. You'll be a happier man. After eight years of baccy, you should know that! My God man, we're all playing Russian Roulette! (but pipes make us classy!) : )


Thanks if you only knew what hypo I am. Actually with the internet it's cyberchondria. I had a prostate infection earlier this year and the internet had me convinced it was prostate cancer. My doctor laughed, he said, you know how astromical th statistics are of a 33 year old having cancer? Yeah everything I've had the internet says it's cancer, I should be dead by now with all the different cancers they say I've had. But now that you mentioned the "c" word Kevin, I'll probably lie awake all night...ray:


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